And God is Able...

The other morning when I went for my morning run I was on my porch stretching and inwardly lamenting that winter had returned after a few 'teaser' days. It was freezing again. My thoughts were interrupted by the beautiful trills of a songbird accompanied by the background chirping and peeps of many other feathered friends. I was thinking,"Don't these birds realize spring is gone?...it's winter again!" As I ran, I felt the Lord instructing my heart. There was a lesson in this for me. Surely those birds could feel the frigid temperature yet they continued to sing on.

It made me think: how often am I more affected by the 'climate' around me than trusting in the promises of God? In a given day, there always seem to be someone who is 'off'(often it is my heart that needs major adjusting!) Sometimes two are off simultaneously...a few minutes later, it could be a different combination altogether...add into this homeschool lessons, chores, meal prep, doctors appointments, choosing curriculum for next year, and my heart can be so tempted to unbelief, anger, discouragement, and weariness. Yet this is what rang out in my mind as I continued to think on this even today...Lord what is it you are trying to say?
And God is able...
He reminded me of one of my favorite 'medicine for the soul verses'
1 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

So He has promised that He is able to make His grace abound in me...I have all I need to do the job He has called me to. What a comfort!

Oh, how I long to be more like that songbird singing forth praise when the climate around me is less than spring like. When I am tempted to be discouraged by character issues in my heart or in one of our children or when I am tempted to fret due to an unending 'to do' list... let me sing on knowing that God is able.

Fifth and Final Florida Post....the trek home:)

The trek home was actually another adventure. Mimi and Pop-Pop purchased auto-train tickets for the kids' birthday and Christmas gifts this year. It was so nice knowing at the end of our Florida trip we did not have to endure another 19 hour car ride through the night :) We arrived early at the loading station in Sanford, Florida so we headed to the local mall for a meal in the food court. That in itself was an event as we rarely eat out and here each person could choose whatever meal suited their fancy! Then we headed over to the station to line up for check in on the train. Once checked in, we waited in the station (which is under construction) and then boarded the train. We all settled in to our seats and were blessed to be in an almost empty car so we were able to each take up 2 seats if we wanted to stretch out. We had dinner and breakfast on the train....there's even a snack car with tables for playing games, reading etc. The kids thought it was such fun to be able to move around the train while we were traveling across the country. They thought the bathroom was pretty cool too! We slept in our seats...and arrived in Maryland on Sunday morning. We were amazed at how quickly they unloaded the vehicles- it was a huge train with 2 decks of cars, vans, and motorcycles...I can't find the pictures I took of that:( It was a great way to end a great trip!!

Waiting in the make shift station for boarding time....

The kiddos and the Amtrak mascot~

All Aboard....we can never 'travel light'

Hanging out in the snack car before the train left the station...we were trying to check emails to no avail...and I could hardly believe they were eating again!!!

G settling in for the long trip home....

The boys kill some time catching a movie on Mimi's personal DVD player...

C chilling with Pop-Pop

Dinner in the Dining Car...

Breakfast...doesn't look like Odesco woke up yet!

To put the van on the train we had to remove the soft luggage carrier... Daddy was having a challenging time getting everything to fit again!

So grateful for God's kindness in allowing us to take this trip!!!

Florida: Part 4-Downtown Disney-

We spent a few hours in "Downtown Disney"... a fun place to people watch and window shop. This was one of the highlights for L and Odesco because it is home to the Lego Store...what fun they had there. Before we left for vacation, a very thoughtful friend brought an envelope over for each of the kiddos with $10 of spending money. I was so touched by her generosity and thoughtfulness! The girls and older boys each chose a shirt or hat as a memento but our little guys spent their money in the Lego store...so many choices...they were almost paralyzed with indecision but finally made their purchases!

We spent quite a bit of time watching this "Red Man" and the crowd he drew. Believe it or not, this is not a statue but a living ,breathing man. It is a riot to watch him because unsuspecting tourists stand next to him for a picture and all of a sudden he very quietly moves. The responses were a hoot to watch. The wild thing is it does not even look as if his eyes are open, yet he is watching the people who come close to him~I can not imagine how he does this for hours on end in the heat and barely moving a muscle...very intriguing!

Mercy is bold but keeping her distance, just in case :)

Later in the evening, P got brave and moved close to him for this pose...watch what Mr. Red Man did....

He changed P's hand position!

The others were keeping their distance!

This is just outside the Lego store....L was so impressed and could not believe it was made entirely of Legos~

Inside the Lego store...so much to see! Even a Lego Woody!!

There is an entire wall of little Lego figures...and this cool magnifier that moves in all directions to help you see the details...

Yep, this is now the header of my blog...this picture 'just happened' as we all had fun trying on the various hats. L is not mad ...he is imitating Donald Duck on his hat!

A fun end to a fun evening!!

Thanks for stopping by :)